Is a College Degree Still Worth It? >
K-12 Education Should Take a Lesson from Colleges
College often provides the first opportunity for students to direct their own education
November 17, 2011
About Tom Carroll:
Tom Carroll leads the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future in its mission to empower educators who are transforming their schools from teaching organizations into learning organizations. He founded the Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology program, and he served as the U.S. secretary of education's liaison to the Corporation for National Service during the launch of AmeriCorps.
Yes, a college education is certainly "worth it" to the many students for whom college is a way out of cyclical poverty or geographic isolation. Community colleges often offer the first step on this journey--and are nimble and affordable--and therefore welcoming to a diverse population. The value of college as a way to access new opportunities cannot be underestimated.
[Today's Young Adults Suffering More Financially than Older Generations.]
Exacerbating the ways in which personal circumstances create the need for the opportunities provided by college, many of our high schools hinder student opportunities by clinging to a design developed for a factory-era population, making them less than ideal for college and career readiness in the 21st century. Pursuing a college education often provides the first opportunity for students to direct their own education, select courses that are meaningful to their future career interests, and work with teachers and fellow students as colleagues.
The inherent value of learning aside, the current reality is that a high school education leaves many young Americans unemployable and unprepared to meet future challenges. Students graduate without the communication, collaboration, and analysis skills that will help them be successful. To succeed in the antiquated structure of many public schools, students have to shut off their technology, separate what they are learning into the often arbitrary silos of discrete courses, and succeed at reproducing answers obtained through rote learning. These strategies are especially detrimental in the sciences, where mastery occurs through hands-on experimentation and problem solving. All too often, college is the first time that students have the opportunity to learn in this way.
[Average Student Debt Reaches All-Time High.]
We need to work to transform K-12 education so that the experience offers students opportunities to work in collaborative teams, use real-world data and experiences, and learn how to obtain, assemble, and analyze information. Students who are provided with a better foundation for college success will find ways to make that college education worth even more than it is now. To make the college experience even more valuable, we need to help students "learn how to learn" earlier in their education. Students who enter secondary education with the skills to communicate, collaborate, discern, and prioritize will achieve far more in college, be better informed when making decisions about careers and majors, and would understand the value of asking good questions.
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- Other Arguments
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#18030
Yes — The return on a college investment is more than that on almost any alternative
JULIE MARGETTA MORGAN, Policy Analyst with the Postsecondary Education Program at the Center for American Progress
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#26029
No — Four to six years of partying do not equal an education
CRAIG BRANDON, Author of 'The Five-Year Party: How Colleges Have Given Up On Educating Your Child' and 'What You Can Do About It'
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#34317
Yes — Like any smart investment, the pursuit of higher education requires effort to explore the options
PETER KONWERSKI, Senior Associate Vice President and Dean of Students at George Washington University
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#44322
No — We now have nearly 80,000 bartenders and taxi drivers with bachelor's degrees
RICHARD VEDDER, Director of Center for College Affordability and Productivity
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#52611
Yes — Students and their families should not simply assume that college will be "worth it"
ROBERT B. SCHWARTZ, Francis Keppel Professor of Practice in Educational Policy and Administration at Harvard University
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#64128
No — Put more courses online and limit federal student loans to four years of undergraduate work
LINDSEY BURKE, Senior Policy Analyst in Domestic Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation
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#72919
No — What's the message when grads can't write a simple E-mail?
NAOMI SCHAEFER RILEY, Author of 'The Faculty Lounges ... And Other Reasons Why You Won't Get the College Education You Pay For'
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#82316
Yes — Encouraging students to go to college is the right choice
ANTHONY P. CARNEVALE, Director of Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce
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#92218
Yes — People need to go to college in order to have a fighting chance at a well-paying career
KEVIN CAREY, Policy Director of Education Sector
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#111720
Yes — The return on investment in postsecondary education remains compelling
CHRIS FARRELL, Economics Editor of 'Marketplace Money'
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#121627
Yes — Tuition and student debt have not grown "unmanageable"
CECILIA ELENA ROUSE, Katzman-Ernst Professor in the Economics of Education and Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University
Reader Comments Read all comments (1)
Carolyn Awalt of TX 2:56PM November 26, 2011